" And fear not them who can destroy the body..." -- The Gospel According to St. Mathew.

I am displeased by the outcome of the last election; but i am neither insane nor despondent. Perhaps i was insane for a moment or two when i learned of the outcome, but i returned to sanity quickly and have not yet relapsed. People who have seen reation to elections in the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s would be amazed to note that i am not blubbering and babbling and feeling sorry for myself and for the world.

I have admitted to myself and to God that i am a political junkie, and have no business going near the stuff. This game people choose to call life, and particularly its political component destroys my mental health and i infliict harm on myself and others. I have to learn to view politics and government in their proper perspctuve in order to remain sane and serene.

And what is the proper perspective from which to view politics. It is a shadow on the wall, a reflection of our collective imagination, highlighted by the flames of ego, power, greed and fear. Some people can handle it, treat it as a game, and shake hands when it is over. I am one who cannot for i am a political addict. Just as chronic overeaters should not be asked to give up food entirely, i cannot recoment that all political addicts should withdraw from all political activity if they are able to keep it under control. But i know that this is not an option for me; if i hear a single newscast or read a single newspaper article, i lose control. So i must treat my disabiliity as the addiction that it is So i have "taken the pledge."

I have admitted that i am powerless over politics.I have come to believe that their ia a power "above" politicsI have decided to turn my life and will over to the care of that divine forceI have included political activity in my 4th step "moral inventory"I will admit the harm i have done myself and others through political actividy.I am ready to ask the divine power to remove my obwsession with politicsI will humbly as that power to remove my interest in politicsI will make a list of those i have harmed or alienated ideoligicak differences and try to atone to them all.i will make direct amends to such people wherever possibleI will continue to include political activity in my inventory, and when i am wrong, promptly admit it.I will seek conscious contact with the divine power, praying for knowledge of its will and the power to carry it out,When i become spiritually awakened as a re4sult of these steps i will know what to do next.

If the wisest people knew what they were talking about, we exist in a universe that is either perfect or in the process of perfecting itself. There is nothing to fear, there is nothing that needs doingt that will not get done better if i do not interfere. My job is to find the Path and follow it. That path is clearly marked out for me.

I suppose, as Krsna and Shakespeare said, i must pllay out my role in this game, but in Arjuna's time our roles were selected by the gods, and in Shakespeare's time mostly by fate or accident of birth. But we get to choose our roles. I want mine to be that of a quiet, compassionate person, who does no harm and lives in obscurity and anonymity.